Window shade bracket



April 10, 1951 A. L. THEXTON 2,548,850

WINDOW SHADE BRACKET Filed Feb. 6, 1946 INVENTOR.

5 /4/Wdm l atent ed Apr. 10, 195i W IN S H ADE ERACKET I I Thexton, Cincinnati; Ohio; {to

classy Corporation, Cincinnati,

ration of Maryland Ohio, a-corpo-- Application February 6, 194 Serial Maris" 2 claims.

,This invention relates to improved brackets for supporting window shade rollers'from win dowframes. I 7 I The principal objective of the invention has been to provide improvements by which shade rollerbrackets may be fastened more securely to a window frame than the brackets now avail able. A' further objective has been to construct units which maybe mounted easily, conveniently and accurately by the average householder. I

Briefly,'the shade roller brackets of the present invention consist of a foot portion, an arm portion extending laterally therefrom to support the roller pin or spear, and means at the foot portion to facilitate the mounting of the in the form of a guide for a nail or'fastener so disposed as to exert a clinching action on the Window frame into which it is driven through the guide. Both the arm and foot may be of conventional size and configuration but, in place of the conventional nail or screw holes in the bracket base, the guide is constructed to direct the fastener angularly from the foot into the windowframe. Supplementing this attachment, if desirable, the'base may be provided with a tang orf'ear'adapted to serve as a temporary fastener while the nail is being driven, and thereafter as a cleat engaged in the wood to prevent the bracket from shifting laterally. I

The angular projection of the nail or as tener into the'vv'ood of the window frame has been found to provide a strong and lasting securement of the bracket to the window frame or wall. This result is obtained for several reasons. In the first place, the pull upon a shade roller bracket, during shade manipulation, is in a downward direction, and tension is exerted on the nail head which tends to lift it from its socket; that is, the lower edge of the bracket acts somewhat as a fulcrum and a turning moment is exerted on the bracket arm which results in a nail pulling action, much the same as that provided by a claw hammer. In the present structure the pull upon the nail head resulting from a downward pull on the bracket arm through shade manipulation is substantially lateral with respect to the shank of the nail and, as a result, the nail need only stand a bending or shear force. At the same time the angular disposition of the nail with respect to the foot of the bracket results in a clinching action whereby the bracket, in effect, is toe nailed to the wood in a rigid and secure manner.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a portion of the bracket foot is bent over the 2 base and is rovided with a nail aperture angula'rly offset with respect to another aperture in the" base roper, whereby the two holes form a guideway which insures proper inclination of the nail as it is driven.- For supplementalv sup;

port of the nail head, if desirable, the overhang ing portion may also include an extension therefrom leading backto the bracket basein the form of abuttress wherebya strong triangular config ur'atien is utilized. 'A'S previously indicated, the

base" preferably includes an attachmentftang bracket mounted upon the Wood of the windowrr'ama I I 'Figiire l is a planvie looking from the end of the braket toward the base Figures is'ia' erspectivviet showing a n'iodi fid form of bracket constructed in accordance with this invention. I I v In' the drawings, a" bracket is disclosed which is adapted particularly to receive the pin end of a conventional shade roller. Those skilled in the art readily will understand that shade roller brackets usually are manufactured in pairs, one member of each pair being provided with an aperture, such as is disclosed, to receive the'pin end while the other bracket of the pair is pro' vided with a slot instead of a bore, particularly to receive the spear or pintle at the other end of the shade roller.

The bracket shown in Figure l is a stamped sheet metal unit comprising a base I and an arm 2 extending laterally therefrom. The arm at its forward extremity is provided with the opening or slot 3, just described, and one or more dents 4 may be placed in the metal along the fold line to serve as reenforcements. sake the brackets usually are made right and left so that the bases I of the brackets are turned inwardly to reside behind the shade roller.

One edge of the base, preferably the upper edge as shown in Figure 2, has an ear 5 bent angularly therefrom to overhang the base. This ear has an aperture 6 therein, while the base For appearance 1 proper has a cooperating aperture I spaced from the aperture 6 so that a line passing through these bores is on an angle with respect to the base. The outward face 8 of ear 5 forms a seat for the head 9 of a bracket fastener or nail l passing through bores 6 and 1. Ear preferably is reenforced and strengthened against bending or collapse by an ear II which is formed as an extension:' of the ear 5 and which is turned downwardly toward the outer face of the bracket base I.

At the far or lower end of the base it is apertured as at 12 to provide a tang I3 extending lat erally from the back face of, ,th e base, whereby a temporary fastener for the bracket is provided.

The clinching action of the nail in into the wood of the Window frame is, shown best in Figure 3 from which it will be seen that'as the nail or fastener is driven home, the bracket is pulled into tight, clinched contact with the surface of the frame. Downward movement of the bracket during nailing is resisted by the purchase of the tang [3 into the wood, and in this manner the accuracy of alignment of the bracket on the frame is preserved while "the bracket is being placed.

The modified form of bracket shown in Figure 5 comprises a base HI, and an arm l5 extending laterally therefrom and having a bore or slot at its outer extremity to receive the pintle or tang of a shade roller as previously described. In this construction 'a nail support of V or convex shape, indicated generally at I6, is formed as an extension of one transverse edge of the base I4. Thus, the metal of the base is bent outwardly or upwardly as at IT and then down toward the base as at I8. The lower extremity of the downwardly bent portion 18 terminates substantially in the plane of the base 84 so as to rest upon and thereby derive support from the surface on which the base l4 may be mounted.

Adjacent the peak or apex of the V a bore I9 is provided which communicates with the inner groove delineated by the V. In the use of this form of bracket a nail is disposed through the aperture 19 and along the inner surface of the portion I! which, as previously indicated, is disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to the base [4. In this manner the nail may be driven into the wood or material of the window frame so as to provide a clinching action similar to that shown in Figure 3. As the nail is driven home the bracket securely is mounted on the frame surface and at the same time, the lower extremity of the portion is is brought into engagement with the supporting surface of the window frame so as to prevent the bracket from becoming detached through tilting thereof.

Having described my invention, Iclaim:

1. A window shade bracket comprising a base, an ear overhanging said base, said base and said ear having apertures therein defining a nail passageway disposed on an angle with respect to said base, a reenforcement ear extending from an extremity of said first ear into supported engagement with said base, and a shade roller support arm extending at right angles outwardly from said base at one sidepthereof below said ear.

2. A shaderoller bracket including a base, an

' arm extending laterally from the base and providing a socket for a projecting portion of a window shade roller, and a-generallyy-shaped portion arranged transversely with respect tosaid arm and laterally from said base abovesaid arm, said generally .V-shaped portion having. a nailing aperture adjacent the apex thereof through which a nail may be passed through said V -shaped portion and thereby be directed on an angle which is obtuse with respect to said base,

one edge of said V-shaped portion being formed as an extension of said base and the other edge of said V-shaped portion being substantially flush with the mounting surface of said base the end of the base opposite to said V-shaped portion having a tang adapted to be driven into a wall surface to provide a supplemental anchorage for the bracket.

ARTHUR L. THEXTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 985,327 Decker Feb. 28, 1911 1,029,373 King June 11, 1912 1,101,324 Parker June 23, 1914 1,182,804 Schultz May 9, 1916 1,903,340 McCullough Apr. 4, 1933 2,089,876 Cavedo Aug. 10, 1937 2,317,368 Frey Apr. 2'7, 1943 

